At about 8 p.m. Aug. 10, I received a double fracture of my right femur. My neighbor, Kathy Cobb, called the ambulance and comforted me as I lay on the pavement. Being a person of faith, I naturally asked God, "Why?" I was taken to the hospital for X-rays and then to Sioux Falls. I arrived at midnight and received surgery at 7:30 a.m.
My first faith lesson was the meaning of total dependence, which is what God asks of us. Independence is merely an illusion that feeds our pride, anyway. That first night I struggled to see light at the end of the tunnel, and realized that God is that light. The thought of my three dependent children kept me going, also. I arrived home on the 13th, and am getting better every day.
The day of surgery, my most painful day, I asked God, "What happened?" He gave me three dreams that night -- revealing how it happened, the recovery and the future.
The first dream was hand-to-hand combat with the ugliest demon I've ever seen. I had the demon's wrist in my grasp, but it was able to twist its hand and cut my hand badly with a small knife it held. This dream showed the spiritual warfare going on in my life the night of the "accident."
In the second dream, I was living in a dark cabin in northern Canada that was lit by oil. It indicated a period of darkness and isolation, but of relative comfort. That was, and is, my recovery.
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The final dream was full of color and lights. It contained happiness, fulfillment and plenty. It indicated richness of body, soul and spirit for me and my family. It encouraged me greatly to face an otherwise uncertain future.
From beginning to end my order was filled with friendly and helpful people, starting with my neighbor and the Windom hospital personnel. My ride to Sioux Falls with Mary Holman was made endurable by our conversation. This was an important milestone in my road to recovery. My surgeon, Timothy Walker, was the best. He exuded competence and confidence, which encouraged me greatly. I will be forever grateful to him and the nurses who waited on me hand and foot. A big thanks goes to my brother-in-law, Jim Duncan, and his driver, Ron, who brought me home, and my friends and family who encouraged me by phone while I was in the hospital.
God is all about relationships, and I learned again why we need each other in a world filled with "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." And, as Clint Eastwood (the preacher) said in "Pale Rider," "A man alone is easy prey."
